Every week, former fighter pilots and current entrepreneurs Neal Rickner & Mike Smith provide unfiltered insights into the biggest stories in startups, energy, and national security.
All content for Hardpoints is the property of VALOR Media Network and is served directly from their servers
with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.
Every week, former fighter pilots and current entrepreneurs Neal Rickner & Mike Smith provide unfiltered insights into the biggest stories in startups, energy, and national security.
This episode of Hardpoints explores the intersection of power—political, economic, and literal. Mike and Neal dissect how America's priorities are shifting: ICE receives a staggering budget increase while climate-fueled disasters gut the insurance industry, startups navigate rising costs and wealth concentration, and tech giants buy into speculative energy futures like fusion. Against this backdrop, they debate the balance between liberty and control, question the integrity of markets, and share hope that innovation—especially in energy—might still deliver progress, if equity and urgency can catch up with capital.
Hardpoints
Every week, former fighter pilots and current entrepreneurs Neal Rickner & Mike Smith provide unfiltered insights into the biggest stories in startups, energy, and national security.
